Wolfgang Herger

Wolfgang Herger (born 10 August 1935) is a German former politician and high-ranking functionary of the Free German Youth (FDJ) and the Socialist Unity Party (SED).

A longtime associate of Egon Krenz, in the German Democratic Republic, he served as the longtime head of the powerful Department of Security Affairs at the Central Committee of the SED. During the Wende, he also briefly served in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED.

Life and career East Germany Herger pursued a degree in philosophy from 1953 to 1958 at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. Until 1962, he worked as an assistant at the Institute of Philosophy while also being active in the FDJ and later the SED.

In 1963, he earned his Dr. phil from the University of Jena with a thesis titled "On the Dialectics of Social Necessity and Moral Freedom in Our Era: Investigations into Fundamental Questions of Marxist-Leninist Ethics." Additionally, he served in the Collegium of the Ministry of National Defence from 1985 to 1989 and the National Defence Council of the GDR from 1986 to 1989.

In recognition of his service, Herger was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in 1973.

Peaceful Revolution

During the Wende, Herger succeeded Krenz, now General Secretary of the SED, as Secretary responsible for Security as well as State and Legal Affairs, also being elected as a full member of the Politburo.

Alongside Herger, the former Deputy Minister of Defence Horst Brünner and two other prominent DDR military figures (Manfred Grätz and Heinz Tappert) were also convicted. The court held these four defendants partially responsible for the GDR's fundamental orders regarding "border security," arguing that they had tacitly accepted the deaths of refugees.